Waterproof

[sonofadigger]

So is the equinox 800 water proof right from the box as is as long as the headphone jack is sealed? But what about where it charges from?

 

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[vferrari]

The charge port is protected by a diode so it can't short out due to salt water. Regarding the headphone port. The water/dust cover keeps water from collecting in the port cavity and jack, but even if you leave it off accidentally, there is a seal behind the jack contacts that keep water from entering the control head. The problem, though, is if you are in salt water, if you allow water to collect in the headphone jack either because you left the port cover off or because you are using wired headphones that do not have the Equinox screw-in plug assembly, you need to make sure you flush out the port and jack with fresh water. Hard to do because of the small jack and you have to be careful to not blow water past the internal seals when flushing. Otherwise, if you don't flush it out and let salt water just evaporate in there, the salt residue will corrode the contacts. Note also, if you are planning to submerge the control head and keep it somewhat continuously submerged while hunting, the wireless transmitter RF signal cannot penetrate more than a couple inches of water so you will lose the signal to your wireless headset (beside the fact that the supplied wireless headset is not water resistant). So if you are planning on submerging the control head, it is best to use waterproof wired headphones with the proper screw-in connector. HTH

 

[sonofadigger]

Thank you so much

 

[fuceye]

if you want to defeet the waterproof feature you can drill a hole in the middle of the screen. try to keep the hole small. one could just put the controler screen in a vice and crush the screen till it cracks this works well for those peeps that do not have a drill. do not hammer a nail directly into the controler this method has been known to not work every time...i know , how is that possable but even people jumping out of an airplain without a shoot sometimes survive...i'd advice disconecting the battery reguardless
of which method you chose.

doing these mods can fail,the risk is yours. if you are not a diy kind of person you can have your local regestered tec person do it for you for a ri·dic·u·lous price. all actions mentioned above will void your warrenty reguardless who exicutes them.

enjoy.

 

[metalhealth]

So,it sounds like this detector is intended to be used with the head submerged. Is there an adapter to keep the connection to the included phones waterproof or is it waterproof right out of the box as long as you keep your head above water? If you purchase waterproof after market phones, is an adapter required and does anyone have a suggestion for waterproof phones to go with this detector?

 

[sonofadigger]

So,it sounds like this detector is intended to be used with the head submerged. Is there an adapter to keep the connection to the included phones waterproof or is it waterproof right out of the box as long as you keep your head above water? If you purchase waterproof after market phones, is an adapter required and does anyone have a suggestion for waterproof phones to go with this detector?

The headphone jack has a sealed fitting that goes into it if you don't have headphones and then is ok to fully submerge. And I'm not sure about adapters for headphones I'm curious about that as well

 

[cudamark]

So,it sounds like this detector is intended to be used with the head submerged. Is there an adapter to keep the connection to the included phones waterproof or is it waterproof right out of the box as long as you keep your head above water? If you purchase waterproof after market phones, is an adapter required and does anyone have a suggestion for waterproof phones to go with this detector?

I'm assuming that you have the 600 with the supplied corded headphones? I wouldn't take those into the water deep enough that the control head is under water. Get some waterproof headphones so you don't have to worry about dunking and killing the stock phones. There are now official Minelab waterproof headphones as well as several aftermarket ones. I use one of the aftermarket ones that was first available months ago. It has the proper waterproof connector and works great. No adapter required.

 

[metalhealth]

Thanks. Looking thru the manual I see the stock phones don’t have a waterproof connection. It’s a shame minelab insists on sticking with those @#$&* YELLOW phones as the only waterproof option. I guess I’ll just paint them grey like I did on my Excalibur.

Edit- oops I guess the ones I saw aren’t minelab, still yellow tho. what brand did you go with if we are allowed to discuss that? What others are available?

 

[cudamark]

I got the Tony Eisenhower phones. Black and white.....makes you look like a Star Wars stormtrooper! They work great.

 

[pulltabfelix]

Here is my solution for lake wading. Could not use wireless headphones because bluetooth loses connection after you submerge the head unit 2-3 inches.

Ordered on ebay some $6 old surplus telex communications headphones. They are good quality and do very well in the higher tone range. I know this because a lot of ham radio operators used them for CW or listening to code. Ordered the $42 converter cable with 1/4" female plug to 1/8" male water proof plug from a Minelab dealer. Total cost about $48. this works for me since I don't dive, but wade in waist to half-way to chest deep with my 800. All items will come in next week and I will let you know how it actually works. The 1/4" female plug connection is not water proof, so I will just cable tie this up on the headphones since I won't get my head wet (hopefully).

I was advised on this and other forums not to use any other 1/8" water proof plug but the one from Minelab. Yeah, could have saved some $$ and ruined my 800. Not worth it.

 

[vferrari]

Here is my solution for lake wading. Could not use wireless headphones because bluetooth loses connection after you submerge the head unit 2-3 inches.

Ordered on ebay some $6 old surplus telex communications headphones. They are good quality and do very well in the higher tone range. I know this because a lot of ham radio operators used them for CW or listening to code. Ordered the $42 converter cable with 1/4" female plug to 1/8" male water proof plug from a Minelab dealer. Total cost about $48. this works for me since I don't dive, but wade in waist to half-way to chest deep with my 800. All items will come in next week and I will let you know how it actually works. The 1/4" female plug connection is not water proof, so I will just cable tie this up on the headphones since I won't get my head wet (hopefully).

I was advised on this and other forums not to use any other 1/8" water proof plug but the one from Minelab. Yeah, could have saved some $$ and ruined my 800. Not worth it.

That should work (agree, you should keep the 1/4" jack of the adapter cable out of the water as planned) but you always need to assume you might step in a hole and take a dunk. The non-minelab "waterproof" connectors are hit or miss from a reliability standpoint but they will not break your detector because the headphone jack is sealed. I think going with the ML adapter cable is a good approach, but anytime you go in the water without fully waterproof gear, you are taking a chance. As long as you are aware of that risk to those $6 headphones (tongue in cheek), you should be fine. You might want to at least put some water resistant tape around the end of the headphone adapter cable just in case. Have fun getting those underwater goodies.